People who are new to smoking are often intimidated by brisket, and who can blame them?
It’s a nonsensical chunk of meat in which you have to cook the point (thickest and fattest) end at the same temperature and precision as the flat (leanest and thinnest) end. But when you get it right, oh my goodness, it’s perfect!
There’s a long history behind smoked Brisket and why it’s become a staple in low and slow BBQ, but here’s the short version.
Farmers and butchers in the United States struggled to sell and preserve brisket in the 1940s, so on a Sunday after the farmers arrived in town with their cattle, butchers would cook the brisket at low temperatures for a long time over a pit to get rid of unwanted/tougher to eatand sell meat.
This is how BBQ in Texas was born.
Brisket has a high-fat content and is high in connective tissue. Because it carries a lot of weight on the cow, it must be cooked slowly and at low temperatures to break down the collagen and sinew. When smoke and heat penetrate the meat, it begins to break down, becoming softer and moister.
When you cook for an extended period of time with cuts of meat like Brisket, a slew of chemical reactions occur, but I won’t bore you with the science. Everything you need to know is:
- The lower and slower you cook, the less the fibres shrink and thus the less tough the meat.
- When cooking brisket (or any meat), resting it after cooking is essential. You will lose all of that moisture if you do not rest. Allow it to sit for at least 1 hour.
Trimming the Brisket
If you’re not sure how much fat to remove or what to cut, follow these simple steps for trimming a Brisket. The first step is determining which end of the brisket you have. Is it the flat or the point? Is it one or the other?
Looking at the above image, the point or fattest part of the cut is on the left-hand side of where my hand is placed. That is the flattest or leanest part on the right.
The following step is to remove any large chunks of fat that will not render (melt down).
Then all I do is shape the brisket into a shape that will look nice once it’s cooked.
Remember taking too much fat will dry the meat out and not taking enough will result in un-rendered fat which will be chewy and not pleasant.
The Cook
First and foremost don’t rush this step. Give yourself some time remember that good things come to those who wait. The million dollar question I’m always asked is “how long does a brisket take to cook?”. Simple answer is at very least 8hrs, but that question includes so many variables such as:
- How big is the brisket?
- What part of the brisket are you cooking?
- What temperature are you cooking at?
- What type of smoker are you using?
- How much fat is on the brisket?
The placement of the Brisket in the smoker can also have an impact on the cook. I usually position the Brisket near the back of the smoker, with the point facing the firebox, so that the flat is insulated from the heat and the smoke can travel over the meat aerodynamically.
To Wrap Or Not To Wrap?
Never before has a more important question arisen in BBQ, and both camps appear to be divided. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Why do I frequently wrap during the final stages of a cook? Wrapping accomplishes two things. It allows you to cook your meat faster and traps moisture.
Aside from whether to wrap or not wrap, there is also the question of what to wrap it with. Butcher’s paper or aluminum foil can be used. Butchers paper allows the meat to breathe while also creating a seal to keep moisture in the meat. However, aluminum foil creates a hermetic pocket that does not allow the meat to breathe, but it can cause the meat to pass through a stall much faster and cook much faster.
The benefit of not wrapping is that it has a thicker bark (outer seal), which makes the meat smokier in my opinion. However, each chef is unique (no 2 pieces of meat are the same). Sometimes I wrap in butcher’s paper or foil, and sometimes I don’t.
The Stall
You would have been cooking for several hours by the time you arrived at the stall. Your internal meat temperature is stuck at 160 degrees Fahrenheit, and you can’t seem to get past it. It’s been like that for 1-2 hours now, and it’s just not rising. You think to yourself, “I need this meat cooked for dinner; it’s now 2 p.m.; when will it be done?”
It is very common for meat to stall during a long cook. It goes through progress called “evaporative cooling” which is basically like the meat is sweating and like us humans, it gets to a point where it’s lost so much moisture in the smoker that it stalls in temperature.
It’s one thing to know what it is, but how do you combat it? Wrapping the meat in aluminium foil or butchers paper is the quickest way to get through the stall. If you prefer not to wrap and instead persevere through it, the best advice I have received is to treat the cook as if it were a locomotive going uphill, in that you must constantly maintain heat in that firebox (sometimes pushing the heat up) to make it up the hill and through the stall.
The Payoff
This is where it all comes down to. You’ve rested your brisket for at least an hour, and now it’s time to reveal your work of art. Some compare it to their first school dance; you’re nervous about how you’ll appear and what others will say. You’re in for a treat if you cook it correctly. Don’t be too disappointed if you haven’t.
Remember that it takes time to learn all of this and get it right; the Brisket King, Aaron Franklin, admitted that his first briskets were terrible, but people ate them anyway.
Carving the brisket is always important because you can tell a lot about someone by how they carved their meat. Are the slices too thin, implying that the cook was too dry, or too thick, implying that the food was cooked unevenly? My technique is to cut the flat with the grain into pencil tip slices.
Still experimenting and getting used to different wood flavours? Check out our blog post about Choosing your Smoking Wood for your BBQ Smoker, just click here.
We also have a Smoked Brisket Recipe, click here.
For some other smoking recipes, click here.Check out more delicious smoking recipes and How to guides
Want to take your barbecuing to the next level? Why not consider attending one of our BBQ Masterclasses It’s an action-packed day including all you can eat BBQ.